Half of the 58 Trillion Won Poured into Kakao Games Goes to the Stock Market

Subscription Deposit Refund Day Investor Deposit and Securities Firm CMA Balance Hit Record Highs
Increased by 16 Trillion and 13 Trillion in One Day... Expected to Flow into IPOs and Stock Investments

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The subscription deposit for Kakao Games' general public offering reached a record high on the refund date, with investor deposits and securities firms' comprehensive asset management account (CMA) balances?considered standby funds in the stock market?also hitting all-time highs. Half of the 58 trillion KRW in subscription deposits refunded after failing to receive allotments remained around the domestic stock market. It is expected to flow into other initial public offerings (IPOs) or stock investments in the future.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 8th, as of the 4th, investor deposits, regarded as standby funds in the stock market, totaled 63.2582 trillion KRW, marking the largest scale ever. This was an increase of about 16 trillion KRW in just one day from 47.3964 trillion KRW the previous day. On the same day, the balance of securities firms' CMA accounts, which can be used to purchase financial products such as funds or equity-linked securities (ELS), also reached a record high of 58.1313 trillion KRW, increasing by about 13 trillion KRW in one day. It is considered extremely rare for both investor deposits and securities firms' CMA balances to increase by more than 10 trillion KRW each in a single day.

Trend of Investor Deposits (Source=Korea Financial Investment Association, Unit=Million KRW)

Analysis suggests that the funds concentrated on Kakao Games, which sparked an unprecedented subscription frenzy, remained around the stock market. The subscription deposit for Kakao Games on the previous day was 58.5543 trillion KRW, but the public offering amount was only 384 billion KRW. Of the 58.1703 trillion KRW refunded on the 4th, about half?29 trillion KRW?flowed into investor deposits and securities firms' CMA balances.

According to Samsung Securities, the joint lead manager for Kakao Games' listing, only 12% of customers opted to receive their refund via bank transfer. This means that 88% of the refund funds remained in the stock market and are likely to be used for future public offering subscriptions. Since 39.2% (22.9694 trillion KRW) of the total subscription deposits were concentrated at Samsung Securities, approximately 22.8188 trillion KRW is expected to remain in the stock market for future public offering subscriptions or stock investments. This is why the IPO of Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of BTS, which is larger in scale than Kakao Games, is expected to generate unprecedented enthusiasm.

Lee Jaeman, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, predicted, "Considering the low deposit interest rates and stringent real estate regulations, which leave few alternative investment options in the market, the refund funds from Kakao Games' subscription are likely to remain in securities accounts for next month's Big Hit Entertainment public offering subscription or stock market investments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.